Kanunghlekin Uprising
The Kanunghlekin Uprising was first battle of the North Zician Revolution that occurred in January ERA 10-23. Civilians took to the streets with weapons in a demonstration against the puppet government put in place by Heartland, who had annexed the country in the early ERA 09-50's. The civilian militia, later joined by sympathetic North Zician Army units battled against Heartland troops and Zician Soldiers loyal to the goverment, and the two forces struggled for control for major objective within the city. These demonstrations were organized by the Zician Provisional Democratic Party, a political group who wished for Zicia to become independent. The name is often used as a general name for the entire North Zican Revolution, as the fighting originally started in the capital city of Kanunghlekin. Background The nation of Zicia remained as an independent state until the ERA 09-55 Total War, when Heartland troops invaded and split the country in two; the Northern section occupied by Heartland became North Zicia, whilst the Southern section managed to repel the invasions through military intervention by the Great Empire. For the next seventy years, North Zicia remained in the control of Heartland, and was at the mercy of the puppet government installed by the aggressors. Most of the country's resources, including food, materials and manpower was commandeered by Heartland, whilst the Zician industry workforce was put to use for the benefit of the Heartland people; producing weapons, fuel, vehicles and even household electronics. The entire public sector was at the mercy of the Heartland agenda under a harsh totalitarian government, who used a vast army and advanced technology to force the violently population in submission. However, Heartland's grip on the country began to weaken in the ERA 10-10's as large-scale military defeats, such as Operation Stranglehold and Operation Dusk's End, had lead to the decimation of their armed forces. As a result, most of the Heartland troops in North Zicia were reassigned out of the country to what the Heartland military leaders perceived to be more important. The once formidable force responsible for the occupation of North Zicia was reduced to only an eight of its original compliment. This overall weakness in military might was to no doubt contribute to the success of the upcoming rebellion. Zician Provisional Democratic Party The Zician Provisional Democratic Party, commonly known as the PDP, were a political activist group that opposed the puppet government, and were established in ERA 10-09. The PDP were partly inspired by the Southern Independant Army and the favor they gained with the people of the Barbine Republic, which eventually lead to them being elected as the governmental party. Following an anti-occupation ideology, the party gained some movement but were constantly under threat by the utilitarian government, who often sent followers of the party to work camps, prisons, or in the most sever cases shot in the street with their family. This violence provoked a guerrilla campaign against the Politicians and Soldiers of both Heartland and the government-loyal North Zicians. While these actions, which came in the form of sabotage, ambush and assassination, were often successful, they were not very effective overall and did not do much to destabilize the Heartland occupiers or the puppet state. The PDP were poorly equipped and far too few in number. Weakening Occupational Forces In ERA 10-20, following the military disaster of Operation Dusk's End, where millions of Heartland and North Zician troops were caught in the blast of a supernuclear bomb that destroyed the United Republic's capital city of Solomon in the single largest incident of friendly fire in history, Heartland withdrew much of its military strength from Zicia to the interior. This painfully apparent reduction in Heartland's annexation force, in addition to the injustice that North Zician troops were forcibly sent into battle of Solomon who were subsequently vaporized, lead to the expansion of the PDP and their strength as a militia force. Over the next few years, their numbers gradually continued to grow, and soon began to amass a fairly large arsenal of military equipment and improvised weapons. Furthermore, the ideals of the party were favored by a large portion of the North Zician Armed Forces, effectively switching the loyalty of these units from Heartland to the PDP. On the day of revolt, these units would either desert, or fight alongside the civilian forces. Beginning of the Battle In the first week of January ERA 10-23, Civilians took to the streets of Kanunghlekin to participate in protests and other actions organized by the Zician Provisional Democratic Party. Some protests were none-violent, and came in the form of worker strikes, blocking of roads and peaceful occupation of public areas. In others, militia units stuck targets of opportunity by force; with rifles, bombs or sometimes just sticks and clubs. As these civilians marched down the streets, vehicles and buildings used by the opposition were burned or taken over. People of importance who were named on a "Hit List" written by the PDP were taken prisoner or executed. The Heartland Occupational contingent responded quickly and with deadly force. The entire compliment of Strieki Soldiers in the area were deployed to contain the threat, bringing in armored personnel carriers and tanks. The typical weapons of the Strieki; the BR.7 Service Rifle, Type 80 Hand Grenades and a bayonet, became infamous, as all were used indiscriminately against the populace. Troops emptied entire magazines into crowds of North Zicians, armed or otherwise. Rocket Launchers such as the S.P.I.G were use to cripple buildings, and heavy machine guns like the KAM-MA 12.6mm were used to suppress the throngs of activists. Flamethrower units were also employed, burning entire city blocks to the ground, often with people still inside. In the first few hours of fighting, there were immense civilian casualties at the hands of the Heartland aggressors who, as specifically detailed in their instructions in the event of a revolution, answered resistance of any type with absolute brutality. However, the sheer number of civilians often led to Heartland units being surrounded or pushed back. Cornered Strieki units that were captured were often beaten to death or doused in fuel and set alight. Tank crews, their vehicles blocked by barricades or restricted by the small streets, were burned alive in their machines with petrol bombs thrown by the militia. In one case, a car full of propane gas cylinders was pushed down an incline into the path of a state-of-the-art B-89IFK Main Battle Tank, which was disabled in the ensuing explosion. The commander was bludgeoned to death with a brick after emerging from his cupola, and the vehicle and the rest of the crew were torched with incendiary bombs. Intervention of the North Zician Military Soon after the fighting began, local army units from the North Zician military were commanded by Heartland leaders to assist in the quelling of local resistance. These troops were largely sympathetic to the PDP cause, and many refused to carry out their orders. Norzic soldiers alligned to the resistance removed the Heartland flag from their uniforms, or changed from their uniforms into plain clothes. Vehicles were inscribed with "PDP" or "Democratic Army". Some soldiers handed their weapons over to resistance leaders whereas others joined in the fighting themselves. Entire companies of rebelling Zician troops took over valuable strategic positions within the city. Army medics were vital to keeping civilian casualties as low as possible, as the local hospitals were frequently bombarded with artillery by the Heartland forces. The standard North Zician infantryman, armed with either a JYS-97 or the older JYS-71 assault rifle in addition to QK-76 Stick Grenades, were about equal to the Heartland soldiers in terms of training and equipment. In pitched battles in the city streets, the outnumbered Strieki were often no match against resistance from a well equipped and vast, professional military force. Typically thought to be years behind Heartland in weapons technology, North Zicia had been gradually and discreetly modernizing the armed forces since the early ERA 09-80's. The outdated IZF-58H Medium Tanks expected to be faced during a revolution, which were based on obselete Heartland designs, were no match for the B-89 or even the earlier B-71 Tanks used by the modern army of Heartland. However, tanks commanders were horrified to find that advanced Norzic designs such as the IZF-03 "Morturassaru", previously impressing the armed forces of Heartland during showcases by the annexed country, had been put into mass production, and were now in the hands of the resistance. Inexperienced tank crews, stationed in North Zicia due to it being a relatively quiet front, were now faced with opposition from a fighting force as professional as either the Great Empire or United Forces, and had high-tech equipment to match the Heartlandians. Heartlandian tanks were knocked out in large numbers, with the fleeing crew being gunned down or swarmed by crowds. Although Heartland enjoyed air-superiority during the first few days due to the North Zician Air Force taking some time to get organized and begin rebellious operations, many airfields in the surrounding area had been sabotaged by the resistance. Fighters that did get in the air could not effectively bomb targets due to their close proximity to friendly units. Helicopter units were employed to airlift troops in and out of the battle, but were still vulnerable. Poorly trained pilots were not often used to landing in very built-up areas, and often crashed into tall buildings. In several instances, helicopters were shot down by both Militia and Norzic Regulars with rocket or grenade launchers. In two seprate, bizarre cases, Heartland AS.114 transport helicopters were brought down though irregular means; one with a washing machine pushed from the window of a high building down onto its spinning top rotor; the other by smashing the hovering aircraft with the arm of a rotating crane. Overall, the Heartland Air Force did little to hamper the combat effectiveness of the rebels. Continuation The close quarters street fighting of Kanunghlekin continued for about a fortnight. The last strongholds of Heartland and loyalist North Zician resistance were eventually crushed. By now, the Uprising in the capital had turned into a country-spanning revolution, with Heartland troops being repelled from cities all over the nation. In late January, the Zician Provisional Democratic Party established it's new government in the city, now named the North Zician Democratic Union. Aftermath At the end of January, Heartland launched Operation Magnetism - a plan to recapture North Zicia. After months of fighting, the Heartland counterattack was slowed to a halt; bogged down due to lack of supplies and the resistance put up by the newly reformed North Zician military. The Norzic airforce was now at operational capacity and could effectively combat the Heartlandian air presence. Some cities fluctuated between being under the control of Heartland and North Zicia as intense street battles raged for months at a time. A Heartland assault was made on Kanunghlekin but the resistance met was too great; they simply bypassed the city. By July ERA 10-23, hostilities had ceased; the Heartland armies had withdrawn and the North Zicians had won the war. Casualties on both sides were high, but the North Zicians' suffered greatly during the rebellion, specifically the civilian population. 33% of the vast city of Kanunghlekin was destroyed following the bloody engagements on the city streets. The corpses of those who could not be identified were incinerated. The North Zician Armed Forces gained vital experience for fighting against a modern military force, even though odds were heavily stacked in their own favor. Lessons learned during the Kanunghlekin Uprising would be employed during the North Zician War of Unification in ERA 10-24. Category:Premier Timeline Category:Conflicts